Coimbatore car blast: NIA launches probe, speaks to temple priest
Team visits explosion spot and questions Kottai Eswaran Temple priest, plans to visit main accused Jamesha Mubin’s house
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday officially started investigating the car cylinder explosion near Kottai Eswaran Temple (Sangameswarar Temple) in Coimbatore on October 23.
Led by SP Srijith, a team of NIA officials went to the spot and inspected the area, police said. They questioned the temple priest, Sundaresan, about the incident, police added.
The NIA team plans to visit the house of Jamesha Mubin, who died in the explosion and allegedly had terror links.
All evidence handed over
The city police, which investigated the blast initially, handed over all evidence and documents to the NIA on Saturday. The development came days after the Tamil Nadu government decided to hand over the probe to the premier investigation agency that specialises in probing terror-related matters.
Also read: Coimbatore: Link between car cylinder explosion, 1998 serial blasts, Lanka Easter bombings
A temporary office space on the premises of Armed Reserve at the Avanashi Road Police Recruits School has been allotted to the NIA. The team comprises seven officials, led by an inspector, police said. More than 10 policemen are assisting the NIA team in the investigation, they added.
The cylinder explosion in the communally sensitive Ukkadam area sent shockwaves across the state a day before Diwali. Mubin, 29, died in the blast and, later, police recovered 75 kg of low-intensity explosives from his house. Such explosives are used to make country bombs.
CCTV footage showed Mubin and his accomplices carrying something like a heavy box before the incident. It was later revealed that Mubin and some others were already on the NIA radar. They allegedly had plans to blow up some key centres of the city. Six persons have been arrested in the case so far.
(With agency inputs)
